Your resource for all things Koi Ponds. Find out all the latest tips and ideas to make your Koi Ponds the best ever.

Monday, September 27, 2010

How to Create a Koi Fish Pond

Because of their gracefulness, the longevity of their lives, and their gorgeous colors, it is easy to see why koi fish are so popular to outside ponds. Koi fish also have many traits that make them an ideal fish to thrive in an outside pond.

Since it is realistic to think that koi fish will grow to be large fish they require a pond that is about five hundred gallons or more. Typically the health of the koi depends a lot upon the amount of space that they are provided with and the quality of the water. Koi fish are cold water fish and do very well in water temperatures that are between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows even those who live in cool climates to be able to enjoy a pond full of koi fish. They hibernate in the winter when ice forms on the top of the pond. Their digestive systems slow down almost to a halt allowing them to make it through the winter.

Koi fish are not the only thing that can make a pond gorgeous and interesting to look at. Koi love to have shade like lilies. You can have up to 70 percent of the water's surface covered by lilies. They not only help to give your koi fish cover and shade, lilies help to reduce the amount of algae in the water. Since koi can only receive about five to six ours of direct sunlight, the water lilies really help with the protection of the koi. Plus, since koi are omnivorous meaning they eat both meat and plants, they can find insects and insect larva within the plants. Another way to offer shade to you koi pond is to build your koi pond under a tree where it will receive plenty of shade. But, the negative thing about your pond being under a tree is hat it will most likely be littered with leaves, twigs and needles.

Some thought must go into the depth of the koi fish pond when you are planning to build the pond yourself. The depth of the water can provide some protection from outside predators. Raccoons would love a good koi meal. Providing your koi with at least four feet of water will not only give your fish protection from the sun and more room to swim, it will also keep the raccoons at bay. Some parts of the country have to worry about birds like the Great Blue Heron who love the taste of koi as well. One Blue Heron can eat a meal of about 100 six inch koi. To keep these kinds of predators at bay you should give your koi a water depth of at least 8 feet. Another way to keep bird predators away from your koi fish is to install a bird net over your pond.

When you build your own koi pond you are free to allow your imagination to run wild. You are able to build your koi pond to you specifications in order to flow nicely in your yard and enhance your landscape.

Ted Sikkink, is an ex music industry executive and is very much into koi fish, photography, music, fashion, food & wine, art, information research and is a "life long learning" adept. He helps people to make better choices using internet marketing and social networking.